Letter to editor
THE authorities, including the Higher Education Ministry and Digital Communications Ministry, parents and students have to be aware of the investigation into one Andrew Tate and his Hustler’s University.com.
Uninitiated and young teenagers who are seeking to get rich quick are likely to get scammed if they are not careful with the persuasion by Tate’s persuasiveness on how one can make good money instead of paying for a good university education.
He begins by asking: “What’s the point of university if the inevitable result is high student debt, high job competition and an average salary?”
Well, that’s true but is there another better solution? This is where he provides an alternative solution by suggesting that there is “the better option” and an “alternative.”
He then suggests the “Real World” which is nothing but a scam. Truth is he is the one who is raking in millions of dollars from gullible young people who pay a small sum of US$50 every month.
However, Tate also has his critics such as 22-year-old entrepreneur and student of business, Nathan Nazareth.
Enjoying a luxury lifestyle in Romania, the American-British media personality and former professional kickboxer thought he could continue with his lifestyle but soon, the long arm of the law caught up with him.
Tate and his brother, Tristan were arrested in Romania in December last year along with two other women. They were suspected to be part of an organised crime group involved in human trafficking.
According to BBC, the group was allegedly involved in coercing victims into creating paid pornography.
Malaysian teenagers beware
In June this year, they were charged in Romania with “rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women”. Both Tate and Tristan denied all charges.
Tate first gained his first championship in kickboxing in 2009. In 2016, he was appeared on the British reality show Big Brother. But the celebrity status was short-lived after a video showing him repeatedly beating up a woman with a belt (but the woman later claimed that the act was consensual).
For Malaysians who are unaware, Times Higher Education (THE) reported that Tate’s physical “Hustler’s University” was forced to shut down in 2022. Now, Tate is making a comeback by creating a virtual university with a worldwide reach.
Sources say that using the virtual university, Tate is “more closely mimicking the trappings of real universities while also – somewhat paradoxically – drawing on a narrative that higher education is no longer relevant, according to those who have studied the former kick-boxer”.
Quoting Associate Professor Sophie King-Hill of the University of Birmingham, Times Higher Education wrote: “This is about legitimisation. A hustler is a person who rips you off, and he doesn’t want to give that impression anymore.”
King-Hill has this to say about Tate’s scam: “A lot of thought has gone into this and for me it is about attracting a different cohort of young men. He is becoming a lot more strategic about who is aiming at; he wants to attract people with money and vulnerability.”
For Malaysian teenagers, this is the time to educate them so that they are not easily scammed. The authorities, especially the Digital Communications Ministry must block the University.com website. – Nov 6, 2023
Elizabeth Young
Petaling Jaya
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: Sidekick